Zamil in joint venture

Saudi Arabia's Zamil Industrial Investment Company and Canada's Steel Plus Ltd have formed a joint venture to manufacture steel joists.

The venture - named Canam Asia Ltd - has set up a production unit in Dammam that will have an annual capacity of 20,000 tonnes.

Canam Asia said in a statement it would be the only company in the region to custom-design, fabricate and supply open-web joists. Steel Plus is an affiliate of the Canam Manac Group, a leading manufacturer of structural steel components in North America and Europe.

Saudi firm opens office

The Saudi Electric Company has set up office in Abu Dhabi in partnership with Emirates Holdings.

The company is a joint venture between the Tamami Group and the US' General Electric. The company has been operating in Saudi Arabia for the past 26 years and has eight branches in the Gulf.

It is a full-line distributor of electrical, industrial, mechanical, instrumentation and valve products.

It has carried out a number of commercial, industrial, oil and gas, petrochemical and utility projects.

Oasis plans asset expansion

Oasis International Leasing (Al Waha) has said it plans to expand its asset portfolio to tap infrastructure growth in the region. Chairman Mohammed Saif Al Mazrouei said the new assets would include power generation plants and medical equipment. The bulk of the company's investments are in the slump-hit airline business. Oasis aims to increase its asset and risk profile to Dh5.5 billion from Dh1.7 billion over the next four to five years. The new growth will come from a diverse range of high-value assets with an economic life of up to 30 years.

Oasis Leasing is the second UAE joint stock company to offer shares to non-citizens after Dubai's Emaar Properties.

But the plan to offer 20 million additional shares to existing and new shareholders through a rights issue may be delayed due to weak market sentiment, Al Mazrouei said.

Firm to make master batches

InterGulf Limited has signed an agreement with Swiss speciality chemicals firm Clairant to manufacture master batches in Sharjah. Master batches come in granules and are used to colour polyolefins, used in most plastic products.

The InterGulf polyolefins facility will be sited at Sharjah's Khalid seaport and will become operational by April 2003, InterGulf director Adeeb Yawar said.

The 'knowhow and trademark licensing' agreement for the Remafin brand was signed on the sidelines of Clariant's first Gulf conference on master batches that was held in Dubai recently.

The Remafin masterbatches will be marketed in the Arabian peninsula by Clairant through a regional network of five offices. Clariant's master batch division operates plants in Italy. The deal with InterGulf will enable the company to source its master batches locally.

InterGulf Limited is the region's largest PVC producer with a capacity of 25,000 MTPA. The company also produces five million PET preforms a year.

Clariant has grown out of the Sandoz Chemicals division, which was spun off in 1995, and the Hoechst speciality chemicals business, which was integrated in 1997.

The company opened its first office in the region in Jeddah in 1962.

ACDelco opens service centre

ACDelco has opened its first service centre in Dubai. The centre, at Rashidiya, has been launched in partnership with Al Yousuf Motors and will handle all makes of vehicles. Al Yousuf vice-chairman Eqbal Al Yousuf said the centre was the first phase in a Dh12 million ($3.2 million) development that would incorporate a new Al Yousuf Motors body shop, a retail spares centre and a bus workshop.

With eight service bays and 23 staff, the centre will offer a wide variety of services including wheel balancing and rotation as well as refrigerant charging and car wash.

ACDelco, a unit of General Motors, now has a total of 19 service centres in the Middle East.

OOC plans feasibility studies

The Oman Oil Company (OOC) and Engro Chemical Pakistan Limited (ECPL) have signed an MoU to conduct a detailed feasibility study for the development of an ammonia/urea project in Oman. The feasibility study will include technical studies and cost estimates for construction of the ammonia-urea plants, market analysis and development of product off-take arrangements as well as development of joint venture agreements and preparation of a financing plan.

The study will be concluded by the middle of 2003, OOC said in a press statement. The project is the third such ammonia-urea venture planned in the sultanate.

Maaden plans bauxite project

State-owned Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) has signed a financial consultancy agreement with Riyad Bank and the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group for a $3.2 billion mining project. The two banks will oversee the detailed economic feasibility study for the Al Zubirah bauxite project north of the kingdom, which involves establishing a smelter and refinery for aluminium and alumina in the Eastern Province.

Maaden chairman Abdullah Al Dabbagh said the agreement would provide the company with accurate and specialised information about the financial and technical aspects of the project.

Preliminary studies have shown that the area between Qassim and Hail in the north has bauxite deposits of more than 126 million tonnes, 57 per cent of which is alumina, Dabbagh said.

The study is expected to be completed in mid-2004 as Maaden plans to extract 3.5 million tonnes of bauxite annually for the production of 620,000 tonnes of aluminium a year.

Maaden, wholly owned by the oil ministry, was set up in March 1997 with a capital of $1 billion to utilise the rich mineral resources in Saudi Arabia. The government plans to privatise the company.

Turkish firm wins contract

Turkey's STFA Construction has won a contract to extend the quay wall at the Sohar Industrial Port complex.

The RO9.59 million ($24.9 million) contract under the second phase of the port's development calls for extending the quay wall by 810 metres to about 1.65 km.

The wall is earmarked for the exclusive use of the fertiliser and aluminium smelter projects planned alongside the port. Separately, STFA is also building a 850-metre length of quay awarded under a RO12.84 million contract as part of the first-phase package.

The Omani government has invested around RO100 million on basic infrastructure at the industrial port.